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queerfandomtrifecta · 6 months

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I’ve seen a few takes on the whole “Is the writing actually bad or are you trying to order a milkshake from the hardware store?” genre expectations thing for OFMD s2 and I’m gonna add my own.

Yes, I know it’s billed as a lighthearted pirate romcom. And s1 was just that. But s1 also had some incredibly solid character arcs and thematic elements and layers and so much depth that were shaped by some more serious dramatic bits here and there.

I wasn’t expecting that going into it. In s1, I was expecting to go into the hardware store for hardware, as anyone would, because it’s advertised as a hardware store. But then I got there and discovered that this particular hardware store also happened to sell milkshakes. I didn’t expect milkshakes from a hardware store, especially not really good milkshakes since that seems like it might be a tough thing to sell together, but they were able to keep the hardware out of the milkshakes and vice versa, so it was great. You didn’t have to order a milkshake if milkshakes weren’t your thing and you never planned on ordering one since it’s ultimately a hardware store. You could just come for hardware. You could also really just come for the milkshakes if you wanted to, but it was still really clear that we were getting that milkshake from a hardware store.

And then s2 started and the hardware store spent three episodes really expanding on the milkshake sales. To the point it was like wow, if I hadn’t been told this was a hardware store, I’d almost think it was a milkshake shop. And since it was ultimately meant to be a hardware store, they clearly had to try and sell some hardware, but that seemed like it ended up being a little hard to make room for with how much of the store had been filled with milkshakes, so suddenly there are some milkshakes made with nails and screws, and there are toolboxes and lumber with milkshakes spilled on them. And idk maybe they should’ve served fewer milkshakes if they still were gonna try and sell that much hardware, because these things really don’t always mix and now we can’t really use either of them like that. But still, they just kept making more and more and more milkshakes until the blenders just exploded and there’s just this gigantic milkshake mess everywhere.

So at the onset of e4 it’s like okay, yeah, I have faith that this hardware store will definitely clean up the milkshakes because they’re clearly all over this place; it can hardly even be a hardware store til the milkshakes are cleaned up. But then besides a handful of paper towels that are used to clean up a little tiny puddle of milkshake, everyone just… resumes work selling hardware? Despite the fact that they’re still just walking around in the gigantic milkshake mess??

And that just keeps going til there’s only one episode left and it’s like geez idk why they still haven’t cleaned up the milkshakes I hope they can somehow. That seems tough with so little time left, but this place started as really great hardware store that sold quality milkshakes, so maybe they can pull it off.

But then instead, the CEO of the hardware store decides to unexpectedly murder one of the hardware store employees and says it was a kindness because said employee was just so sticky from the milkshakes that never got cleaned up. Which doesn’t seem like a valid reason AT ALL? and even in a messy, milkshake-covered hardware store, that WASN’T something anyone would typically expect to see?? Plus it still did NOTHING to clean up the milkshakes??

And a lot of us are left just asking “i don’t understand, why did no one clean up the milkshakes???” and for some reason, the response to that often seems to be “hardware stores don’t sell milkshakes”. No, they usually don’t, but this one did. None of us would have ever tried to order a milkshake if it hadn’t been established that this specific hardware store has always sold them, and we’re a little concerned that it’s still just covered in them.

It was also super confusing that the hardware store locked its doors and stuck an “out of business forever” sign up while also still planning to open again like usual but said that if they don’t, at least everyone got a happy ending.

Like… um I really don’t think they did and either way I’m a little wary about shopping at this hardware store again.

#I probably took the metaphor too far #ofmd spoilers #ofmd #ofmd season 2 #izzy hands #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd critique #ofmd critical #media literacy #media analysis

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thegreatcaptainusopp · 6 months

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Sogeking vs God Usopp: Usopp’s Dual Roles

So I’ve been doing some thinking about Usopp’s two titles on his wanted posters: Sogeking and God Usopp. Both of them are larger-than-life personas connected to Usopp, and inform the way that he’s viewed by the world at large. And after thinking about it some I think I’ve come to the conclusion that each title reflects something about Usopp, and I think we can track something about his move from one to the other, as well as speculate where he goes from here.

Part 1: Why did Luffy recruit Usopp?

I wanna start here by discussing something I’ve noticed about the way Luffy recruited Usopp onto the crew.

Firstly, I realized upon doing my reread of the manga that Luffy did not know about Usopp’s sniping ability until after he had already joined the crew.

This was incredible to me, because I had figured that, well, Luffy had witnessed Usopp’s almost supernaturally-good sniping skills and wanted him to join the crew on that basis, but nope. According to what Luffy actually saw during the Syrup Village Arc was Usopp, village boy, Yasopp’s son, protector of his friends, courageous hero, and, most importantly, liar. Or, in other words, storyteller.

So, my thesis about Luffy’s recruitment of Usopp is the following: Luffy wanted Usopp because he wanted a storyteller for his crew, and this is what Luffy initially envisioned his role to be until he saw how skilled he was as a sniper.

Here’s my proof:

When Luffy meets Usopp, he’s not actually all that impressed by him: he thinks he’s funny, but explicitly notes that he doesn’t want him to join the crew (Usopp said he’d be captain, but still). The turning point for Luffy’s opinion of Usopp happens here, when the Usopp pirates tell the straw hats about why Usopp tells Kaya stories:

Here, Usopp’s good qualities are tied directly to his lying, or to his storytelling, and wins Luffy over. This happens multiple times throughout the arc, with Luffy getting increasingly more impressed by Usopp, and many of these examples include Usopp lying or telling stories to either protect his friends or hide his great courage. Zoro and Nami also begin the admire and like him for similar reasons:

Again, none of this has anything to do with Usopp’s ability as a sniper. Luffy specifically likes Usopp’s courage and lying, and it’s these two qualities that lead him to want to add him to his crew. It is important to note too that a key role of Zoro’s in the final confrontation was removing items blocking Usopp’s shots: so he at least knew Usopp was a more than decent shot, and he is crucially the one to actually invite Usopp aboard the Merry. Luffy seems to treat it like it was forgone conclusion instead.

And it is the chapter after the leave Syrup Village with Usopp already on board that Luffy, after seeing him fire a cannon, awards him the role of sniper. Which means that he had not recruited him to be that person, he had recruited him based only what he had seen earlier: the courageous warrior who steps up to save his friends, and does so in many ways by telling stories. And that is the person Luffy initially wanted in the crew, and by happenstance ended up with a world class sniper to boot.

Interestingly enough, Luffy knew full well about Yasopp’s sniping skills, and was very impressed by them. Usopp, too, takes pride in being the son of a skilled sniper and great pirate, and much of his dreams focus on both of these goals as it’s what he admired the most in his father.

So, what does this mean? Here’s why this is important to establish:

1. The crew has already seen Usopp act as a brave warrior of the sea, and already knew he achieved his dream before even starting it

2. Luffy rated Usopp’s character and lying so highly that he not only befriended him, he wanted him for his crew

3. Usopp’s role as a sniper was not something Luffy saw as a core element of his personality/dream until after the fact. Meaning that Usopp also did not ever mention his sniping skills as being a large part of his identity.

Part 2. Sogeking the sniper

Now with that established, let’s talk about Sogeking.

Sogeking as a persona was born out of Usopp’s lies, out of his storytelling ability: he brought him into existence out of thin air, wearing the mask of the hero that he needed to be to save Robin.

The thing is, this hero is specifically and necessarily themed around Usopp’s sniping ability. It’s revealing of what Usopp considers to be his own best quality, which is his sniping skill. Therefore, Sogeking IS Usopp’s sniping ability in every sense: his confidence, his heroism, the things that he’s good at, all wrapped up into a person that Usopp constructed and meticulously maintains.

So, Sogeking exists at the overlap of both of Usopp’s roles on the crew: he was born out of a story that Usopp purposefully maintained and put effort into: everything from his costuming to his way of speaking to his backstory was constructed with intent and meaning. But he is maintained through Usopp’s insanely skilled sniping, which takes the story that Usopp initially constructed and turns it into fact, the Sniper King started out a lie but turned into a truth because Usopp is just that good at it. This reflects our introduction to Usopp too: as a storyteller first, a sniper second.

Sogeking also reflects something about Usopp’s power as a storyteller, which is autonomy. In creating Sogeking, Usopp created the narrative to which he was exposed to the world through his bounty poster and title. That is a name and narrative completely of his own devising, whilst everyone else got names & narratives driven by the world government. Usopp, in having the power to create his own public persona, chose to theme it around sniping, and thus deliberately placed his sniper role in a higher position than his storytelling/lying one. The role he shares with his father, rather than the one that is entirely his own.

Part 3: God Usopp the Storyteller

Now, let’s go to God Usopp.

This persona is the mirror image of Sogeking in so many ways. For one, God Usopp was born in the inverse style that Sogeking was: whilst Sogeking burst out of Usopp’s head fully formed, God Usopp was a gifted title, a persona that was bestowed upon him by others. Unlike with Sogeking, God Usopp was not an expression of Usopp’s autonomy, or of his ability to tell his own story. Instead, it is the opposite: God Usopp is when he lost control of the story, where others stepped in to control his narrative, to choose the kind of person he is going to be. And the persona they chose? God Usopp, a savior, a creator. A storyteller.

The general public, when faced with Usopp, again notice and admire what Luffy first noticed and admired: Usopp’s courage and ability to create something out of nothing. It is an enduring trend with Usopp, where the people around him hold his storytelling ability in the greatest esteem, while he believes that his sniping ability is the more important one by a long shot.

Furthermore, and more importantly, God Usopp is the inverse of Sogeking because while it’s the story that created Sogeking and the sniping that maintained it, it’s the sniping that created God Usopp and the storytelling that maintained it. Usopp was only able to get to helping Sugar’s victims in Dressrosa because of his sniping ability, before transitioning to lying (and claiming, well, Noland the Liar in a very on-the-nose comparison) and, eventually, falling into a completely out of control situation that causes the people to be freed and awarding him the title of God.

Of course, his sniping ability does return in a big way to complete the arc (and unlock his haki), but it is only effective because of the trauma inflicted on Sugar in the first place, the trauma that directly led to the birth of the title of God Usopp. And, as a consequence, the death of Sogeking, unless Usopp ever decides to break out the mask and take back control of the narrative. If that is even the narrative he wants anymore.

Part 4: What does it all mean?

So, we have Sogeking and God Usopp. Two sides of the same coin, both inverses of each other when it comes to Usopp’s dual roles on the crew: sniper and storyteller. Can the inherent tension between the two personas tell us anything about what comes next for Usopp?

Maybe. I think, based on how Usopp was recruited, and the slow transition from Sogeking to God Usopp, that we’re going to see a Usopp who leans much more into that element of himself. In other words, I think Usopp is going to embrace his role as a liar/storytelller to finally achieve his dream.

Because, the thing is, his sniping ability is already perfected. Has been, from the very beginning. On that, he didn’t need much training, and has since received a couple upgrades that instantly skyrocketed him to one of the best in the world. In a similar sense, his dream has also already been achieved: his is a brave warrior of the sea. If he wasn’t, ironically, he never would’ve been recruited by Luffy in the first place, nor would he have received Zoro and Nami’s initial approval.

I also want to bring Yasopp back into the discussion here. Usopp’s pride in his sniping ability is very much connected to the fact that he shares this skill with his father, and that is partly why he loves to highlight it as something he is proud of. Even though, as mentioned earlier, he did not seem to see it as a core part of his personality early on in the story.

I think, by embracing what makes him truly unique, and truly Usopp (his lying, his storytelling) he will unlock the final level of his power and finally come to realize that he had achieved his dream all along. He just needed the self confidence to realize it, and this confidence would come after accepting every part of himself, including the ones he might feel ashamed of.

After all, his storytelling and lying is what endear people to him, what made Luffy and Zoro and Nami initially be willing to risk their lives for a kid whom they had just met, just because he needed help. And, as evidenced by the God title, very much extends to others who’d be willing to follow’s Usopp’s direction, perhaps hinting at a potential to unlock a certain branch of haki that focuses on leadership and control…?

Regardless, I think that Usopp is due for a large power up of some sort, especially as they reach Elbaf, and, well, Elbaf IS Fable backwards, very much a type of story…

All this to say, Usopp’s role IS both storyteller and sniper and both of these things are as important as the other, and in order to achieve his full potential Usopp needs to acknowledge all his strengths and fully complete his journey to be a full fledged brave warrior of the sea

#one piece #op #usopp #monkey d. luffy #sogeking #god usopp #one piece meta #Usopp meta #op meta #speaks #Luffy #roronoa zoro #nami

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san-sebastienne · 3 months

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I don’t care that it’s been months; I’m still thinking of how to tighten up s2 and make it have literally any narrative impact/emotional growth. So here’s my chopped and screwed s2 rewrite that nobody fucking asked for, PART ONE:

The big, overarching change is that Ned Lowe is the BBEG of s2. We’re saving Zheng and, more pertinently, Prince Ricky for s3 (that’s definitely happening in my world, shhh). This gives weightier narrative stakes to the Kraken era, since the looming problem is predicated on Ed’s actions – much like the Badmintons as BBEGs in s1 were based in Stede’s actions/past.

The season begins the same: the trauma crew are raiding every day, never making port. The Kraken is making everyone’s lives difficult. They break Ned Lowe’s record, but it doesn’t seem to matter (also Lucius is hiding in the walls of the revenge, causing even more stress and probably trying to haunt Ed. Let’s add a little levity.)

Stede and co in the ROP. Stede’s bartending at Jackie’z and hears someone talking about blackbeard… but they’re being very complimentary. Calling him “fascinating,” “a dedicated man” – not the kind of language that Stede’s gotten used to arguing about. Who’s this gent who seems to actually GET Ed? His name is Ned Lowe, and he’s looking for his old pal blackbeard.

Stede and the crew hitch a ride out of the ROP with Ned, since they all have the same goal – finding Blackbeard. Besides, Ned is genteel. He seems to have the same sort of appreciation for finer things that Stede has, and it’s nice to see after spending so much time cleaning up vomit at Jackie’z. Maybe Stede and Ned have a dinner in the captain’s cabin a la Barbarossa and Elizabeth Swann in the first PotC… everything is grand and well laid out, but something is very wrong. Stede tries to ignore this, but his “this guy is bad news” senses from being a gentleman are tingling.

Meanwhile, back on the trauma ship, Jim is trying not to mourn Oluwande. They’re very “everyone I’ve ever loved is dead; why would he be any different?” They’ve thrown themselves into pirating as a way to double down on their hardened I Am Vengeance persona, and this growing thing with Archie as a rebound.

Leg thing/Frenchie is first mate now/crazy storm thing/let’s kill Blackbeard are all the same. Except Lucius is there, probably spending a lot of time hiding with drunk/sick Izzy (there’s some hurt/comfort in both directions, as much as izzy can be lucid for it). He also shows up for that final shot of the crew looking down at Ed while Jim hefts the cannonball. Ed’s not worried about hallucinating anymore; he’s finally about to die!

It’s Ned’s ship (plus Stede et al) that comes across the storm wreck of the Revenge. Our crew still has to escape over to their old ship, not because anyone found Ed’s corpse but because Izzy, in a moment of clarity, is like oh shit, Ned Lowe is super bad news, we have to get the fuck out of here right now. This way we get the beginning of a basis of trust between Izzy and Stede, since Stede listens to the insistence of the Trauma Crew and takes Izzy’s advice on when to get out of a bad situation.

Gravy Basket happens.

Someone (Lucius?) tells Stede that Ed’s body is still onboard. MerStede happens.

Jim is extremely overwhelmed that Olu is alive. The two of them have a very sweet romantic reunion. They confess to Olu about Archie, but insist that she was just a rebound. Archie tries to laugh the whole thing off – it’s fine! This didn’t matter! Shit things are bound to happen to everyone! Jim feels mega guilty and starts to realize that maybe it wasn’t just a rebound – they might actually care for Archie.

The uicorn leg half of “fun and games” is pretty much the same, the big division between the crews being that The Trauma Crew wants to banish or straight up kill Ed, but they’re still very much being chased by Ned Lowe. Stede’s crew insists that getting distance here is more important than adjudicating that mess.

We do all still come together to give Izzy his new leg.

Ed is locked in some kind of makeshift brig, making everyone tetchy and uncomfortable. Except for Stede, of course, who sees this as his chance to explain himself to LITERALLY captive audience Ed. Stede has the “I love everything about you” scene with him there, and explicitly tells Ed that he didn’t go to the dock bc of Chauncey (holy shit, how does he never fucking bring that up in the actual s2). Ed is moved but not convinced to forgive Stede… yet. They do the hand holding thing here, but don’t have the conversation about taking it slow. Instead, offering his hand thru the bars of the brig is the only thing Ed does to show that he’s heard Stede and is considering forgiving him.

The other half of this episode is the crews re-integrating emotionally. Jim/Olu/Archie explicitly discuss their relationship structure. Jim can be with both of them. Lucius and Pete get to have a moment about how Pete thought Lu was dead; Lucius admits that he kind of thought he was too, since all he did was hide and hang out with a guy who was too delirious to even really recognize him.

Somehow we still get Ed in that catboy collar. Nonnegotiable.

Part two incoming…

#I don’t have enough mental energy for a full fic rewrite but I feel strongly about this #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #stede bonnet #edward teach #izzy hands #ofmd s2 #ofmd fanfic #fanfic meta

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makerofmadness · 10 months

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What's with Balloon Boy and the Daycare Attendant?

The Balloon World arcade machine exists, it's in the DA's room and both characters are involved in it. It's probably one of the most cryptic minigames in the FNAF series as a whole, but while we could ponder what exactly it's supposed to mean (maybe I'll do that for all the security breach minigames eventually), the main question I have is this:

WHY Balloon Boy specifically? Why is the minigame about HIM?

Is there a connection between the two characters? Or was it a completely random decision?

Out of nowhere, thinking about Balloon World, I came to a realization:

The Lights.

Balloon Boy's entire gimmick in FNAF 2 was that if he got into your office, he would disable your flashlight and vent lights (...somehow. I know we all make the jokes about him taking the batteries [and then that FNAF 57: Freddy In Space thing in FNAF World said he just straight-up steals your entire flashlight], but you never see the battery icon disappear or appear empty in FNAF 2 itself when he gets into your office. And the vent lights also stop working, so unless they also operate on batteries, then... does he actually take them from you?).

What's the one rule in the daycare?

Keep the lights on.

His mechanic is the antithesis to what Sun wants and exactly what Moon would want. Balloon Boy doesn't keep the lights on. He prevents you from turning them on at all.

(which also makes me kinda sad there wasn't a Glamrock version of BB. Then again, I don't know how exactly he would've uniquely affected like anything. Regardless I am hoping for the day someone in the fandom makes a glamrock bb who is arch-enemies with sun and gets along well with moon skseijdndndnd-)

It feels kinda obvious and I'm guessing I'm not the only person to think about this, but I have never seen anyone else bring this up. Not on YouTube, not on tumblr, nowhere. Maybe if I go looking for it I'll see, but i'm surprised I haven't bumped into anyone else saying this just naturally. I go into the BB tags a LOT, surely SOMEONE would've said something, right? I don't even see it noted in the trivia on the page for the arcade game on the fnaf wiki.

...but is this supposed to mean anything? Or is it just a cute little reference or callback? it's hard to say, especially with how ambiguous the minigame is.

Though I DID think of ONE thing... (possible minor spoilers for Ruin under the cut):

Saw this pointed out in a youtube video that the BB World screen (with Eclipse, who makes their proper debut in Ruin after effectively being foreshadowed by the minigame in SB's base game) can be seen on the ceiling in the DA's room. Which makes sense, obviously, but also take note of the pirate-themed windows in the hallway leading to it.

...now, which character do most of us tend to associate with Balloon Boy? His "tag-team partner," of sorts?

Foxy. The Pirate.

With this, I found that there's more Foxy-related stuff associated with the daycare area than I had previously realized because I had never made any connections before. I mean, Kids' Cove is directly linked to it for god's sake.

Like. I hope i haven't forgotten to mention anything (I've been writing this post over the course of hours 'Cus I had stuff to do in the middle of it all). My brain's kinda starting to fry. But basically: Was Foxy originally meant to be the Daycare Attendant, in-universe? Was there gonna be a Glamrock Balloon Boy with him, like as his first mate or something??? Were they gonna be connected to Fazbear Theater????? (Uh basically Sun/Moon to my knowledge from confirmation in the books and a lot of more subtle implications in-game mainly involving environmental pieces were originally meant to be in the Fazbear Theater as a stage animatronic but got moved to daycare duty instead and being reprogrammed. Which actually explains a lot about them when you think about it-)

Like. Ok I'm forgetting where I was going with this, I'm sorry, but I guess it's food for thought/adds to the weird connections between DA and BB, I guess. Idk. I can't focus that well right now to keep making new ideas.

felt like sharing my interpretation of the Balloon World minigame itself at least since earlier I did kinda finally get it down concretely:

I kinda developed a theory that Eclipse is Sun/Moon's "safe mode" and that rebooting DA reactivated Eclipse as a result. Like, they're their own AI that was at one point implemented. but then Vanny happened and locked them out thanks to the whole Glitchtrap virus thing (albeit it only seemed to reach Moon, while Sun remains seemingly unaffected. Guessing it's because they're different AIs [finally implied/basically confirmed by their Ruin dialogue). Eclipse has seemingly not been active for some time, or at least never post-pizzaplex closure, given how they're seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that this place is closed with no signs of opening.

So the minigame was foreshadowing Eclipse's existence and implying their "trapped" nature, which also could be seen as paralleling Vanessa's whole "Vanny" situation, especially given how iirc one of the messages related to princess quest can be found near the arcade machine.

#This post kinda crumbled toward the end but I hope it's still interesting enough :'3 #fnaf #fnaf sb #fnaf ruin #fnaf eclipse #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #daycare attendant #balloon boy

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swallowerofdharma · 2 months

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So, what is Berserk about after all?

Please be considerate to me, don’t repost this, don’t share it outside of tumblr, don’t copy parts of it, thank you.

I have read really funny critiques and reviews of Berserk. Often they would refer to Miura supposedly saying that he didn’t plan everything out and they would use this statement to support their argument that after the Golden Age arc the story just looked like it dragged on. One, don’t ever fully believe what artists and writers say about their work. Second, without a proper conclusion it is impossible to make that kind of judgement and the story is ongoing. Then, not having a plan or having just vague ideas and taking inspiration here and there isn’t how manga works or how it gets published. When asked in an interview why he started creating Haibane Renmei as a doujinshi, Yoshitoshi Abe replied: “With mainstream publishing, it would've been difficult to do it with that avenue because of this particular approach with everything being adlibbed. I don't know how the story will be developed, how it's going to end up, or what the ending's going to be. If you go to a mainstream publisher, by their general approach, they have to know what the characters are, who they are, what the story's going to be, and how the story's going to develop so they know if there's going to be a serial, continuing storyline. They need to know how it's going to go”. Even though plans can be renewed and renegotiated, Miura still needed to make solid advanced plans and decisions and respect deadlines and page quotas. Even without considering this, the world building of Berserk seems too intentional and coherent to me to think that he didn’t really know how the story would go. Granted he created a reality that could be changed and bent by the human imagination and psyche, from the inside. This happened to be a brilliant choice for a long project like the Berserk manga.

I once read a review that pointed out the weakness of the later arcs and episodes, making the hypothesis that Miura was influenced by the success of stories like One Piece and Pirates of the Caribbean. I can’t really say that I share this opinion, either. Reviews like these make me smile, because they reveal how people missed a very big clue that Miura never really hid. Berserk was inspired by the story of Peter Pan as told by J.M. Barrie and reinterpreted in several different ways, not only visually. He went as far as dedicating to it the Lost Children chapters, immediately after the Eclipse, when the tension of the story was higher than it ever had been. We should read the Lost Children as an homage to the story of Peter Pan and Wendy that plays into the already disquieting themes of the original in darker tones and with much more horrifying elements; but we should also pay great attention to the Lost Children chapters as an important recontextualization of the events of the Golden Age arc. While I want to dedicate proper analysis and attention to this, I am going to add here that in Peter Pan we already had the pirates, the islands with hidden caves and the mermaids. The journey to Skellig island and Elfhelm had to be long enough for Moonlight Boy to make an appearance at least twice before the big reveal of his full identity the third time, and since he can only appear on nights of a full moon, Miura had to make the readers feel that time had passed. But Guts had always belonged in Neverland.

In my rudimentary outline of various elements that contributed greatly in building the world and story of Berserk, I actually ran out of space. And I want to properly address the various points and develop them more. For the moment I just really wanted to show that Miura had a very strong grip over the story and that he was really attentive to nuances. I said to myself, if I want to criticize the writing in Berserk at least I have to make sure I understand it to a sufficient extent.

Also I really wanted to at least give an idea of how important a role Shōjo manga had to Berserk. I hope to be able to fully explore this element soon.

#berserk #berserk meta #kentaro miura #manga analysis #guts berserk #griffith #casca #all the tags because I worked hard on that outline lol #another little bit of groundwork to give context #lost in translation #berserk themes #berserk as a Shōjo manga #eri reads berserk

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avelera · 8 months

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Still thinking about the post that scoffs at the idea of Stede being a Dom because he demands respect and then has to rather pathetically add, "... Please?" to the end as if that's proof that the desire (which can lead eventually to the capability) to be dominant and authoritative isn't there.

At the risk of repeating the absolutely stunningly obvious over something that was probably a joke, the reason Stede being bad at Dom stuff like dominance and authority is only further proof that it's a desire of his, albeit one he has to work at making into a reality, is because this is a comedy.

One of my favorite points made in Steven Kaplan's "The Hidden Tools of Comedy" is, to paraphrase, that comedy is about failure. Specifically, a failure of possessing all the tools to achieve what we desire.

Which is to say, we all have goals in life. In a drama, people tend to have the tools they need to achieve their goals. Whereas in a comedy, they lack them.

And I don't just mean things like, "In a drama, a character has a goal to save the world and also has the tools (or gains the tools) to achieve this goal." I mean really basic stuff.

Stuff like, "In a drama, a character's goal is to have an amazing first kiss with the love of their life. They have all the tools necessary: mutual attraction, skill at kissing, good breath. The tools they need to have an amazing first kiss are there, in their possession."

Whereas in a comedy, these tools are not guaranteed. A really common comedy beat might be, say, wanting to kiss the love of your life and being stressed out because you just had a garlic-y meal and your breath smells bad. Or the protagonist just isn't very good at kissing and it's messy and embarrassing. Or they lean in for the perfect kiss only to realize to their horror that the attraction isn't mutual.

Comedy is about taking away the tools to make a story go perfectly or smoothly. That's why comedy is often used as a tool to make stories more realistic, because in the real world, we don't always have the perfect minty-fresh breath and kissing technique to knock our crush's socks off with that first kiss. We are often inadequate and uncertain and prone to foolish mistakes.

Now, keep in mind though, that comedy is as much an elevated, often abstract style as drama is. We're only mimicking real life. So while comedy drags our heroes from the heavens of dramatic, anguished perfection back down to earth, comedy is also exaggerating the number of tools we might have missing at any one point. But we've all been there, a little, with not having the tools at our disposal to make the moment as perfect as we imagine in our heads. But by the same token, we've had weighty, dramatic moments that aren't comedic. First kisses that went great.

So, to bring this back to Stede and Ed - OFMD is a comedy.

Stede wants to be authoritative and respected as a fearsome pirate captain (of his own stripe) but, because he lacks the tools like the easy command with which Ed governs his ship, he has to tack on a pathetic, "Please?" to his demands for respect. But the desire is there. The desire is real and presumably he will gain skill at achieving what he wants, to be respected, so that he is able to command respect at a suitably dramatic moment or at least in the right dramatic company like that of Ed, who has always respected and indeed put Stede on a pedestal. For most of S1, just about everyone who meets Stede thinks he's a bumbling fool, but not Ed. Even at Stede's most bumbling and pathetic, Ed was always impressed by his audacity. They've always clicked they've always been comfortable together when it's just the two of them and the nerves go away.

And I think, far more than being impressed by some guy with natural viciousness or authority managing to command respect as a pirate captain, we've seen time and again that Ed is actually more likely to be impressed by someone like Stede who tries, like a total lunatic, to command respect while having literally none of those natural tools in his favor. Where everyone else saw someone pathetic for doing that, Ed has always seen the absolute balls it takes for Stede to leave everything he knew behind to try to live a pirate's life, while still marching to his own tune.

#IT'S TIME FOR LONG SOULFUL META AGAIN Y'ALL #ofmd #our flag means death #blackbonnet #ofmd meta

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littlemissaddict · 3 months

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Just a little psa I know nothing about dnd other that what I've seen in the show and what Google can tell me, if I'm wrong about something either politely correct me or just ignore the mistake please 🙏

Anyway, I'm just thinking about reader who despite being with Eddie and listening to him talk about dnd for years doesn’t have a clue about any of it so when she asks him if she can make a character and for him to teach her how to play he would be over the moon but also in despair about how little she knows (even Steve knows more about the game from just listening to the kids harp on about it)

"Oh can I be a Bandit?" She cries excitedly as Eddie sits down next to her with a blank character sheet.

"Bandit?" He asks, confused, running through the different classes in his head before realisation sets in, "Rogue? Do you mean rogue?" He asks with a hint of amusement in his tone that she misses as she nods quickly with a wide smile on her face.

"I don't know princess, rogues are known for being stealthy and have an uncanny ability to avoid danger whereas you, on the other hand, are possibly the clumsiest person I have ever met," he teases as her brow furrows and her bottom lip juts out in a pout as if she thinks the answer is going to be a no, as if Eddie would ever deny her. "Though you are good at finding out people's weaknesses and exploiting them so I guess you may make a good rogue after all" he jokes, knowing that she know that his only weakness is her and that he'll cave to her every time.

"Oh and can I have an eye patch too?" She asks hopefully.

"I mean if you want too but why would you need" he starts to ask before she cuts him off.

"So that I'm always ready to see in the dark if I need to" she states as if it obvious as to why she'd want one. "Did you know that's why pirates used to wear them so that when they'd come out of the bright sun they could just switch the patch over and the eye would already be accustomed to the dark meaning they wouldn't be fumbling about in the dark" she tells him proudly.

"I mean it makes sense, but how do you even know that?" He asks surprised but also not surprised at her knowledge of random information.

She shrugs, "I like to read, in fact my brain is full of useless information"

"Yeah, okay hit me with some" Eddie smiles, dropping his pen and turning so that she has his full attention.

"Did you know a cat ear contains 32 muscles? Or that alligators can stick their tongue out but crocodiles can't" she tells him and he shakes his head in response, truth be told its not something he's ever cared to look up. "And, a little controversially, if you added up all the time people spent kissing then it would roughly work out at about two weeks of their lifetime" she adds knowing that that maybe more to Eddie's interest.

"Oh is that so?" He smirks, elbow coming to rest on the table and his chin resting on his hand as he leans towards her, "I think we can beat that don't you?" He teases, eyes not leaving her almost as if he's challenging her, though they both know it's a challenge they'd both take willingly.

"Hmm I bet we could" she agrees, "and we can make a start on it after we complete my character sheet" she smiles innocently pushing him back slightly from where he'd seemingly leaned in even closer.

"Okay, okay but it is going to put us behind" he jokes reaching for the pen again as they prepare to begin brainstorming.

#eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson drabble #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction

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knitnightstudio · 7 months

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OFMD Ed's Emerald Ring

I'm rewriting this slightly for clarity, to fix an error, and to add a little.

The Emerald ring Ed wears in season 2 of OFMD is Stede's ring.

The emerald ring is too big for Ed. Stede's rings are canonically too big for Ed. In 1x4 when they change clothes, Stede's rings on Ed's hands are lopsided the entire time. The Emerald ring is also lopsided nearly the entire time. There is NO reason for Gypsy Taylor to make Taika Waititi wear a ring that doesn't fit unless there was a specific reason that it needed to be too big.

If the ring was part of his plunder Ed would have gotten rid of it in 2x6 when he called his plunder posion. He got rid of everything except the emerald ring, why? Because it isn't tied to pirating

When Ed drops his leathers overboard in 2x7 he still keeps the emerald ring. If the ring had some attachment to the leathers he would have sunk it with the rest of his stuff.

The ring is Stede's color. Stede spends a majority of his time in green/sea green clothing, Stede's main ring is sea green. The captain's cabin has a lot of green elements. Nearly every outfit he wears has at least a trace of green in it, even before he leaves his wife.

Ed has a history of keeping stuff that signifies Stede close to him. We see this when he wears Stede's black scarf for most of season 1 and puts it back on right before he sails into the storm in season 2.

The only reason for Ed to keep a piece of jewelry THAT DOESN'T FIT is if the meaning was divorced from piracy and special to him, and the only thing in his life that comes close to that is Stede.

At this point I am assuming you're with me, the ring was Stede's ring. Assuming this is true, then:

Either Stede gave Ed the ring sometime in season 1 but he never wore it until season 2, or Ed found it when he was ransacking the ship after Stede left him and decided to keep it. Either way, It's Stede's ring.

You can't see Stede's tie in season 2 until Ed drives the ship into the storm, so sometime between when he leaves Izzy with the gun, and when he tells Frenchie to let him steer the ship he put the scarf back on. After he and Stede are reunited we don't see the scarf again. Why? I think it's because the crew knew that the scarf belonged to Stede. If Ed had worn it prior to driving into the storm the crew would have definitively known that sweet Ed was still in there. Clearly they knew why Ed was behaving in the way that he was, but I think Ed probably thought he wasn't being so obvious. He could wear the ring though, and keep Stede close to him because nobody had seen it before and the crew would just assume it was from a plunder, not as a reminder of Stede.

Ed keeps the bride and groom figures from the wedding and draws on the bride to look like himself. The black all over the bride and groom is either from the makeup he's been putting on his face, or from him mushing the dolls together, or both. Either way, he doesn't want the crew to know he is holding on to them. Since they don't know the ring belongs to Stede Ed can keep this reminder of Stede with him at all times without anyone else knowing.

Once Stede and Ed are reunited Ed doesn't need the scarf anymore. It's too reminiscent of the life he wanted to leave, but the ring symbolizes Stede without the pirate baggage, so the scarf goes and the ring stays.

Ed wears fine things well and an emerald ring is certainly a fine thing

Even when he is dressed down in 2x8 he keeps the ring. We've seen Ed without his leathers AND dressed in comfy clothes 3 times. In 1x9 when Ed and Stede kiss for the first time, 2x5 when he goes fishing with Fang, and 2x7/2x8 when he is either in the bathrobe or Button's clothes before he puts the leathers back on. The first 2 times Ed doesn't wear any jewlery. The third time though, after Ed and Stede have sex and breakfast in bed and brunch together he keeps the emerald with him.

Ed wears the ring on his left ring finger, which is traditionally where you would wear an engagement or wedding ring.

Conclusion: Our pretty princess loves Stede so fucking much and these two boys are gonna talk it out and work everything out because regardless of what they say they're obsessed with each other in the best way.

#lgbtlove #lgbtq positivity #lgbt pride #ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #ofmd season 2 #ed x stede #edward x stede #blackbeard x stede #ofmd stede

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cheesecakeluvrs · 9 months

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-Why SaNa over LuNa and SanPu-

This post is not meant to start any fights because shipping wars are stupid but these are just my personal opinions on why I prefer Sana over Luna and Sanpu (or mostly why I don’t ship Luna and Sanpu because there isn’t a lot of Sana in here)

-LuNa

One main reason I don’t ship Luffy and Nami is because I could never see Luffy settling down. Him getting married or getting with someone I believe would be too restricting for him. Being bound to someone eternally just doesn’t seem like something Luffy would ever do.

The second main reason is just the simple fact of they haven’t shown romantic interest in each other at all. I am very picky when it comes to my ships and I don’t just choose two random friends, the one thing I need is for them to actually have feelings or the possibility of feelings. Even in friends to lovers stories when they were friends there was still a little bit of romantic tension, that is just something I don’t see with Luffy and Nami.

The third main reason and the smallest one is just more of my opinion but I don’t think that Oda is the kind of person to just have the male and female leads then put them together.

Ok finnaly I will be going over evidence Luna shippers use and why I don’t believe it.

Luffy and Nami wearing crown in color spreads

In my opinion this is probably the best evidence for Luna but I think it’s just that Luffy is yk obviously king like king of pirates and Nami is like his right hand girl or like the second captian. She is also seen wearing lots of crown because she loves money, plus if you want to use the king and queen thing then we should add Zoro into the mix because he’s “The king of hell”. Overall, pretty solid evidence but I think it’s just Nami being his right hand girl or also weather queen, I just don’t think this suggest anything romantic.

That is probably the one piece of Luna evidence I don’t find completely stupid so here is some other pieces of evidence ranked from stupid to super stupid. Warning: this is a lot of me just roasting luna

Nami wearing the straw hat. This one is just simple, other people have worn the straw hat too. Not even just Roger and Shanks. Like on the crew both Usopp and Robin have worn it so it’s not specific to Nami.

Nami calling out to Luffy and that’s why he awakens. What? This one is just weird plus Luna shippers always like to bring up how their ship is done dirty in the anime yet this was MUCH different in the manga.

Nami looking at Luffy ‘lovingly’. Uhm ok. The term ‘lovingly’ without any blushing or anything is a little much. I think it’s just simply her smiling and posing while looking off lol.

Luffy and Nami looking like parents here. For how weird this one is it is surprisingly brought up a lot. This one again is simple, just Luffy being the main character and Nami’s love for kids.

And finally my least favorite evidence of all. Nami being similar to Rouge or more specifically having flowers in her hair. Huh? First, Nami is nothing like Rouge, Rouge is very calm while Nami is very hot headed. Plus for mostly every character in One Piece looking like Nami and rouge definitely not looking anything like her I don’t think that’s the best piece of evidence. Don’t even get me started when it comes to the flower.

-Sanpu

This one will be shorter and more opinionated but even so in my opinion I think that luna is more likely to happen then sanpu.

There is one main reason why I don’t ship or think Sanpu is going to happen and I just think it wipes out any possibility of them being together. That one reason being Nami, Unless you have been watching/reading with your eyes closed then it is painfully obvious that Nami is Sanji’s #1. It’s honestly kinda sad watching people trying to debate this because it’s so clear. Just a few examples there is Sanji always calling Nami’s name first before any other women, Nami being the only person he uses the san honorific on, the only one he asks if she is in love with him and in fan requested cover pages he always adds Sanji simpin for Nami despite her not being in the request but he only adds other women if it is requested. Those of course are just a few examples but I even feel stupid just having to prove that. So if Oda did all to show that Nami is his #1 why would he just turn around and make him be with another women.

The second reason is just their relationship in wci didn’t feel romantic. You could also say I’m biased because around wci was when I started shipping Sanji and Nami so I was kinda just not caring about any other relationship with Sanji but still the scenes in wci didn’t feel romantic. Obviously Pudding had feelings for Sanji but unless I missed something a lot of the affection he was giving back to Pudding was him simping for her body. There wasn’t a lot of him actually complementing her for her, of course it was there but just not very much.

People also just use the fact that Pudding has feelings for Sanji as evidence of why they are going to be together and I think there has to be a little more to it then just her having feelings, I’ve also done some other things about Sanji not ‘actually’ loving other women but that’s a different topic.

-So why sana?

This one is going to be almost completely opinionated. So first I’ll just get out my opinion on ships. I love ships that have a nice amount of evidence to it so I can think about it for a long time but even if it’s canon it’s not canon until the end so I can make little theories about them and yell at my old enemies that I was right the whole time.

Sana is almost completely about the little things of the story, if you watch it not focusing that much then of course you’re not going to see why people ship them. Sana shippers love color spreads and little things in the background of the manga. Once again my preference but I LOVE THE LITTLE THINGS, sometimes of course it can be right in front of your face which again is why some of these things can feel a little out of place while they actually aren’t.

This isn’t meant to be like “If you don’t ship sana then you clearly just aren’t watching/reading hard enough” lol, shipping is all up to preference and you can ship whatever you want to ship. It is just always important to remember that shipping really isn’t that serious and even though I love them and love writing about them it’s not what One Piece is about. (Sorry for most of this just being me insulting Luna and not being about why I ship Sana lol)

#nami #one piece #sanji x nami #sanji #nami x sanji #sanami #nami one piece #sanji one piece #vinsmoke sanji #cat burglar nami

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mugeesworld · 11 months

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I HAVE A WATTPAD 🤯

One of my stories has been getting popular so I thought I would share it on here cause why not.

Almost 4k reads ⁉️

Let me give a small summary. (God I lied it ended up long)

This is a child reader x one piece

That means their's no smut or anything like that cause that's gross. The only relationship that is happening is family. Nothing more. It's any age really. I can't remember If I put Y/NS age. But what I picture is like 13-16.

Y/n is a devil fruit user. She ate the rock rock fruit as a kid. The rock rock fruit is inspiried by kirishimas quirk from MHA. That being said this is not a cross over story. I just like his quirk. I changed it a bit also. Y/n can harden her body. Right now their are 4 levels of hardening. It talks about that more on wattpad. I have a 5th it just needs to be introduced. Not only can she harden her body but it also becomes sharp and jagged. Like a porcine almost. Or a human sword. She's a close up fighter.

That being said. No matter how sharp she is. HER CLOTHES WILL STAY INTACT OK??? I have her ideal outfit listed on wattpad but you can change it. I'll give a small summary on it tho. It's has the baggy pants and belt like kirishima. He doesn't wear a shirt tho so I gave her one. It's a tight turtle neck tank top. Ik that sounds lame but it looks cool. She wears kirishimas mask when fighting. And when she's not fighting she wheres long finger less gloves. She removes then before fighting. Back to the clothes ripping. The clothes ripping cause of how sharp she is definitely sounds cool. And I'll add that. BUT! The most that will happen. Is her baggy long pants turning into shorts and POSSIBLY MAYBE the shirt turning into a long crop top. I haven't decided if I want to do the shirt tho. Cause she's a kid ya know. Nothing private will EVER be revealed tho. That's what I'm trying to say. I haven't decided if I want her pants to rip when getting into a big fight or if I want them to un zip or something. But then she will have to carry random ass pants legs💀either way you get the idea.

She got the devil fruit from her father. Her mom and dad met at water 7 when her dad's crew was sailing by. Long story short they fell in love but he made a promise to his captain that he had to keep so he couldn't stay with y/n. He was aware of the pregnancy before leaving. The mother passed away at birth and y/n ended up being raised in a orphanage. (Classic parent tragedy💀)

Eventually y/n got tired of the orphanage and left. She was on the streets for a while until Franky found her and took her in. Ever since then Franky looks after her like a big Brother or even a father. They do everything together!

I won't say anything else other then what the last chapter I wrote ended on. They are currently on the train to CP9. OMG I WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN 🤯⁉️🤷‍♀️

Also I want to make something clear. Idc what body type you are. It doesn't matter. All that's gonna happen is you're gonna get sharp. You don't need to be a certain size for that. If you want your outfit to change then please change it. Make it something comfortable for you! Same thing with hair. Long or short it doesn't matter. Its just gonna get sharp🤷‍♀️⁉️ this is all body types/skin tones inclusive. If I ever write something that doesn't involve all of those things LET ME KNOW. IT WON'T MAKE ME FEEL BAD🙏🙏🙏 for example. Blushes that's a light skin tone thing I'm pretty sure.(I might be wrong) I write embarrassed or flustered.

Under no circumstance will their be any kind of romantic relationship. This is a kids story. This is me healing my inner child. No kissing. Only hugging. Maybe a kiss on the forehead or something but that's ALL.

ONE MORE THING THEN I'M DONE. I FORGOT TO ADD. This crap is long. When i write this I'm watching one piece on Netflix. And I'm writing every sentence almost. So if you're not into that then this might not be for you. It started with galley law taking down the pirates that refused to pay and right now we're are on the train talking with lucci as he explains Nico Robin's past. Their are 17 chapters out each one being 1100-2000 words each. Slow passed. Like the actual one piece. WE AREN'T RUSHING. So if you don't like reading "she says, he yelled, they groaned, etc" then maybe it's not for you. Just wanted to put that.

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thegoldenphig · 5 months

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💛Smoshblr December Asks Final Day💙

We‘ve done it! We’ve finally reached the end of this lil ask game and also the end of 2023! 🥳 Thank you so much for joining in on this, I truly appreciate it so much 🫶! I wish you a wonderful start into the new year and that all your hopes and dreams for 2024 will come true! ✨💞

But, since the year isn’t quite over yet, I thought this might be a nice time to reminisce a little bit. Therefore, the final question of the Smoshblr December Asks Game:

What are your favourite smosh-related memories of 2023? 💖

(no specific amount required for this one; and you can ofc also include older smosh memories, if you want to 🤗)

Stella!! I'm so gonna miss getting your asks every day in my inbox T_T thank you so much for making this month extra special and festive, it was absolutely wonderful waking up knowing there would be a new one waiting!!! <3

My favorite Smosh-related memory? Well, idk, I read a really great fanfic, but it was a bit out there, a bit too sentimental and unrealistic... it goes like this:

Friendship always wins

The sun scorched the suburbs of Sacramento. The neighborhood looked like if a stock photo had a heroine problem. Bored out of their minds, two sixth graders got grouped together for a school project.

"Here, let me draw some turds on the trash pile."

"I'll add flies."

"Hehehe, yeah that looks better."

The two kids, Ian and Anthony, connected through their shared humor, which ranged from Beavis and Butthead to Home Alone to Southpark, and to whatever was on the internet in that godforsaken time pre-2005.

The oldest one, Anthony, came from a broken home. He had to grow up fast and take care of his siblings and mom. The only times he could really be a kid and fuck around, was with his best friend Ian. Feeling nurtured by Ian's mom and dad, and constantly laughing at Ian's jokes, his happiness was there, with Ian. He could get through working hard, as long as he had Ian to go back to and have fun.

Their nerdy friend group were all into internet humor and Anthony came up with the idea of having a forum for them all to shitpost on and share their creations and collaborate.

But then he got sick. Really sick. He couldn't go to school, had to stay home for six months. He felt so isolated, not seeing his friends, most of all Ian. But Ian showed up at his house with a get well soon card. It was signed by everyone from his class. He could cry, he was so happy with this symbol of friendship. It kept him going the rest of the months. He put his time and energy into coding and learning how to do graphic design.

Smosh was born and it took off. First the website was just for them; Ian, Anthony, and their friends. It had stuff like articles, memes and videos. But soon the whole school was frequenting the site. News traveled outside the school even, and before they knew it, Smosh was an internet phenomenon. After they graduated, Ian and Anthony chose to keep the website going. Just for fun. And they got some money from merch they would distribute themselves.

One day, they saw that one of their videos was pirated and hosted on some new platform: YouTube. That gave them an idea: why not host all their videos there? It was free after all. Being at the right place at the right time, with the right kind of humor and the right kind of raw talent, Smosh was propelled to be one of the biggest YouTube channels there were. They even became the biggest one. However, with success also comes vultures, ready to take everything from you...

A company introduced themselves to Ian and Anthony and promised them the world: give Smosh to us, and you will only have to worry about making videos. We will take care of everything else. It sounded too good to be true. And sadly, it was. For even though at first, Ian and Anthony had more fun than ever, coming up with bigger and funnier videos than ever, they soon found out they were not in control anymore.

Anthony, who had always fought to stay in control of things; his family, his health, his whole life... it was very hard to see his creation being contorted and mutilated into something he didn't want it to be. And he grew to hate it. That hate spread everywhere, even towards his best friend, who kept trying to tell him "man, let's take the losses and be happy we have this job, we could have still been in Sacramento with nowhere to go."

But Anthony had had it.

"Ian, come with me, let's start a new channel, just the two of us."

"Anthony... I can't. It doesn't make any sense business wise. I know it's not ideal, but please, Anthony, stay?"

After years and years of putting his all into the company, Anthony couldn't do it anymore. He quit Smosh, and a shockwave went through the entire fandom that had built around it.

Smosh was still going. But you see, money and power got involved, and Ian and Anthony had lost sight of each other... they tried to hold on, you could see it clear as day, but they were ripped apart by the greed of the soulless company, which is a tautology, if you think about it.

Both guys were heartbroken. Still sneaking glances at each other, but not able to speak. Too much had happened between them.

And then the company went bankrupt and Smosh was in mortal danger. Ian, who had fought to keep the brand alive ever since Anthony left, fought as hard as he could to find someone to buy it, who wouldn't just sell it off for parts like an old car. Luckily, a YouTuber duo who knew Smosh from afar, stepped in and saved the day. Thanks to them and to Ian, Smosh survived. But was it really still Smosh? What was Smosh if it wasn't Ian and Anthony?

In the meantime, Anthony had rebooted his personal YouTube channel and through trial and error found success. Nothing like Smosh, of course, but impressive nonetheless.

Apart from each other, Ian and Anthony persevered. But they were still heartbroken and in need of something. That something was each other of course. And finally, years later, they met again. And they were both surprised. They had both healed and grown enough to see each other and talk freely, like adults. And they were surprised to see how well they still clicked.

It was like they were the same friends they had been all those years ago, but eve better. The slogan they had come up with all those years, finally rang true again, more than it had ever done. Friendship always wins.

And as they reconnected more and more, one faithful day, one of them said..

"what if we bought Smosh?"

And at that moment, their family was no longer broken, they were reunited and Anthony suddenly had a lot more 'kids' to take care of. But he was so happy, so happy to be with Ian again. He was finally fulfilled.

#smoshblr december asks #smosh #fanfic #ianthony

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laughingtale · 7 months

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BIG spoilers for chapter 1096 + long ass ramblings over it <3

there is so much i want to yell ab this chapter but my brain is melted but POINTS...

when a guy is SO not normal about someone,,,,, me taking notes like Oh he's even More insane ab roger i c i c. I fucking love everything about this he is So so normal about roger but also making me think ab Kong (and sengoku n tsuru) using roger to get garp to do things.... The motivator ever.... "do your laundry", "no" "Roger said he'd come over if you did", "i've done it all--" i love this fr he is so not normal

also twirls hair hiii bogard, but also the marines being fanboys over garp <3 <3 <3 me when we get to see a little bit of the world,,,, he literally could not care less he just wants to throw hands with rogers and ARGH. slams fist on floor, i want to know more ab their early days,,,, i want to know what roger did that made garp so insane ab him unless its because He's like that.....

BUT ALSO GOD NO THEIR DESIGNS... THEIR FREAKING DESIGNS....

head in fucking HANDS they both look so much like older luffy and ace im slams fist on the floor yelling DAMMIT. wailing sobbing crying etc. i need more of them Now

but also god??? on god??? "felt this past year", im assuming it has to do with how he found lodestar island?? still insane to me that this man went "i've found the last island no ones been to in centuries" and did it again because he could but like RAT SHAKES, what HAPPENED,,,, why even Is roger here like? i Really don't think he cares about devil fruits and it sounds personal, "hold it rocks" is he there bc of rocks?? like?? hello????

BUT ALSO LIKE.... SCRAP OF ROGER PIRATES CONTENT,,, WHAT IF I YELL,,, I neeeeed to know more ab Gaban Now, i need to know mroe about all of them actually </3 wano flashback and this aren't enough i need a spinoff and 19320932 more chapters actually acutally i need all of the old gen Now and this has only convinced me further of it but also teehee,,,, shiki real,,,, its so good to see him and also hello???? gloriosa??? was not expecting that in the slightest but on god its so right???? just in general the rocks though??? this is so so cool??? yelling?? also twirls hair kaido's "looks like roger's on his way as well. he's the one person i--" no one is normal about roger on this island and i love to see it <3 <3 <3

JUST!!!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!!! SLAMS fist on Floor. You give us them all freaking?? running here??? and then looks away??? like. don't get me wrong i absolutely Love Kuma's story, i love how much lore we're getting for him and its so so good and adds so much extra depth esp to iva's reactions during marineford arc but GOD. RATS SHAKES. I need to see more,,, "in the end we still have no idea what the heck really happened on that island" YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME

arghhhhhh

ARGH. No xebec reveal and no full god valley reveal but GOD. TANTALIZING.

<- they weren't lying when they said they were going to be so so normal over this

#OOC.#one piece spoilers #op spoilers #1096 #[ if anyone wants to listen to me yell ab it feel free to dm thumbs up <- normal

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gonzo-rella · 2 years

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Talk It Through As A Crew (pt. 1) | Izzy Hands (ft. The (Marooned) Crew Of The Revenge)

MASTERLIST | AO3 | KO-FI

PART 1, PART 2

Relationship(s): Izzy Hands x gn!reader (romantic), the Crew (Oluwande, Buttons, Wee John, Black Pete, Roach and the Swede) x gn!reader (platonic)

Summary: Oluwande realises that you’re incredibly upset after being marooned. To pass the time and make the best of a bad situation, he suggests that you use your former captain’s policy, which leads to a revelation the crew hadn’t quite anticipated.

Warnings: OFMD season 1 finale spoilers, typical pirate stuff, angst with a bittersweet ending, something you could consider borderline-suicidal ideation (I wouldn’t say it’s too bad, though). (Let me know if I need to add any)

Word count: 2.4k

(A/N: I absolutely adore this fic- it’s definitely one of my favourites on this blog, and hopefully you’ll agree. I feel like this premise of the crew talking through their feelings after being marooned would also make a great Blackbonnet (or possibly Steddy Hands) x reader story, so let me know if you’d like me to write that. This is an alternate version of this imagine. Well, it’s alternate in the sense that it also takes place during the finale, but portrays the opposite thing that could have happened. I might write a sequel to this where the reader reunites with Izzy (if you’d like to see it, let me know), but I don’t have an idea worked out yet beyond Bad Blood by Taylor Swift vibes. [Insert obligatory begging for OFMD requests])

The Revenge had shrunk into a dot on the horizon by now.

Everyone appeared so defeated, awaiting death either by sprawling out on the pathetic excuse for an island or sulking (or both). No one wanted to speak. It would have been silent were it not for the sea.

Tears welled in your eyes and a lump formed in your throat. Everything, the conflict, the revenge, the betrayals, had culminated in this, and you weren’t sure that you could hold it in any longer. Even after being part of Stede’s crew, the thought of crying in front of the others was mortifying. They were in the same situation as you, and none of them were crying about it, were they?

Still, what you wanted and what you needed were completely different things. That’s why you finally allowed your sobs to escape. You buried your face in your hands, which were immediately dampened by your tears (and the sheen of sweat that had formed thanks to the harsh rays of the sun).

One by one, the crew looked over at you, something you didn’t notice because your eyes were covered and you had your back to most of them..

“Are they crying?” Wee John asked in a hushed voice- an attempt at one, anyway. You didn’t bother wondering who he was speaking to.

After around a minute, your sobs dissolved into sniffling and whimpering. You peeled your palms from your face, dried them on your shirt then used the backs of your hands to wipe away your tears and snot.

Oluwande examined your face (or what he could see of it), though he was more than aware that you were upset (and he could hazard a guess as to why). After a moment of thought, he rested a hand on your shoulder and gently squoze it. It silenced you for a moment, taking you by surprise. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Buttons shuffle over to you, situating himself at your side.

“Don’t worry yourself, mate,” Buttons assured. “We won’t eat you first, will we, lads?”

Well, it was a very on-brand attempt to ease your suspected worry. Black Pete, Roach, Wee John and the Swede muttered a series of noncommittal responses.

Oluwande sent him a glare.

“I don’t think that’s exactly what they’re crying about, Buttons.”

“Oh, so they’re fretting about us only having seawater to drink?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re upset about the… general hopelessness of this situation.”

“That’s fair enough. I, myself, am primarily concerned about the fact that the chances of us all getting out of this with our lives and our flesh intact are looking pretty slim at the moment.”

Oluwande went to speak, but you beat him to it.

“Eat me first.” you mumbled monotonously. “I don’t care.”

Oluwande swallowed his saliva, his eyes wide with worry. Sure, things were looking beyond bleak, but no one else had offered to sacrifice themself like that, especially in such a casual tone.

“Y/N...” he faltered. “I know things are looking pretty dire right now, but-”

“I don’t care about that, either. Not really, anyway.”

The crew glanced around at one another in confusion, though you only noticed Buttons and Olu exchanging a puzzled look

“What’s troubling you, then?” Buttons questioned.

You tensed up at that moment. Oluwande felt you stiffen beneath his touch.

For a moment, nothing happened. No one spoke. You glanced over to Oluwande as he turned to face Black Pete, Roach, the Swede and Wee John, who all knitted their brows as he looked around at them expectantly.

“Come on, guys.” Olu urged.

“What?” Black Pete asked in a cranky tone, finally sitting up.

“Get in a circle.”

“What are you on about?” Roach questioned.

“We’re gonna talk it through as a crew.”

Your shoulders sank, but you turned to face the rest of the crew anyway. Buttons did the same.

"Talk what through?” the Swede said cluelessly.

He crawled over to join the almost-circle. Roach moved over and sat beside him.

“Well, we’re all in the same shit situation, but I’m guessing some of us are thinking about different things.” Olu shrugged. “So, why don’t we talk about it? It might make us feel a bit better, and that’s all we can really do right now.”

Black Pete groaned and shuffled over to beside Roach.

“Oh, alright, then.” Wee John conceded with a huff. He wedged himself between Buttons and Black Pete.

The crew (or what was left of it) sat there with similar solemn expressions. At first, the only sound (aside from the sea) was your sniffling as you continued to brush away your tears. Oluwande glanced around at everyone.

“Um...Does anyone have anything they want to share?” he began uncertainly. He lacked the confidence of Stede, who would have persisted with this exercise without acknowledging his crew’s noticeable bewilderment and lack of enthusiasm.

All he received were blank stares, or, in the case of you and Black Pete, a complete avoidance of meeting his gaze.

“Why don’t I go first then?” Olu suggested. He took in a deep breath and drummed his fingers against the ground. He focused on them as he spoke.

“Jim... and Frenchie are both still on the ship,” Olu explained. “I mean, I think they are. We don’t really know what’s going on. All we know is we were left here, probably to die, and they weren’t. I’m worried something bad could happen to them, too.”

You understood where he was coming from. While you were all certain on some level that most, if not all, of you were going to die on this island, no one knew what would happen to Jim or Frenchie. Not knowing was far worse than knowing, at least that’s what you thought.

“Can’t be anything worse than this, can it?” Roach shrugged.

“Of course it can.” Black Pete scoffed. “Are you forgetting they're on the same ship as one of the deadliest pirates to ever live, and the dick who… gleefully rowed us out here to die?”

You bit your lip and scratched your cheek uncomfortably.

“I thought Blackbeard was nice now.” the Swede chimed in.

“Leaving us stranded in the middle of the ocean isn’t what I’d consider ‘nice’.”

Oluwande sighed. A melancholy silence fell over you.

“If I managed to survive being part of Blackbeard’s crew, odds are Jim’ll be alright.” you commented. “I’m not so sure about Frenchie. Hopefully, they’ll both be okay.”

“I hope so too.”

Olu cleared his throat.

“Who wants to go next?”

Black Pete sighed.

“I’ll go.” he reluctantly volunteered.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, mate.” Olu insisted, picking up on Pete’s hesitance.

“No, it’s fine.” Pete assured, waving his hand dismissively.

“Alright, then. Go ahead.”

“Well, as you all know, Lucius has been missing since last night.” Black Pete began. “After what Blackbeard did to us… fuck knows what happened to him.”

“What are you guys worrying about other people for?” Wee John probed.

“We know what’s gonna happen to us.” Pete answered grimly. “All we really have to worry about now is what’s happening to the people we… love.”

You clenched your jaw and huffed. Unfortunately, the others heard the hoarse rumble.

“Ah, so that’s what’s troubling you.” Buttons concluded.

“What?”

“Love.”

It wasn’t just the sun that was heating up your cheeks now, was it? You looked down as you rubbed your forearm anxiously.

“No…”

“Well, that was the worst lie I’ve ever heard.” Black Pete snorted.

You didn’t bother to argue. Somehow, you were already neck deep in a hole you’d managed to dig in less than 10 seconds.

“Aye,” Buttons agreed. “They’re not even denying it.”

“I didn’t know you were having any… love problems, Y/N.” Oluwande commented in a gentle (and somewhat intrigued) tone.

“Who is it?” Wee John blurted.

“No.”

“You can’t leave it at that, though! Especially when you were crying about it a minute ago.”

“They don't have to answer if they don’t want to.” Olu argued in an attempt at mediation.

“Can we guess?” Roach requested.

“Why do you even care?” you snapped, raising your hands in exasperation

“There’s nothing else to do.”

“My personal problems aren’t something ‘to do’, Roach.”

“Come on. Me and Olu said our things.” Black Pete tried

You groaned and ran your hand over your face. He made a decent point. It must have taken a lot for them to open up like that, and you refusing to do so wasn’t exactly in the spirit of things. Besides, you’d probably be dead in a few days anyway. The least you could do is provide them with something they would find vaguely entertaining.

“Fine.” you conceded through gritted teeth. “I’ll answer your questions if you promise not to be total bellends about it.”

They all uttered a kind of agreement. You sat there stiffly for a moment, attempting to blink away the fresh tears burning your eyes.

“So, who is it?” Wee John repeated.

“Just so we’re clear, you’ve all agreed that, if even one of you is a bellend about the next word that comes out of my mouth after this sentence, I’m not going to elaborate any further.”

You suspected they figured out which of them you were directly addressing with that warning.

“Just get on with it, man.” Roach ordered.

You took in a deep breath and scratched your neck.

Part of you hoped they didn’t hear you when you reluctantly mumbled, “Izzy.”

“Izzy as in… Izzy Hands?” Black Pete questioned incredulously.

“Mhm.” you hummed, as though the admission caused you pain. Your fingertips trailed to your forehead, which you massaged out of impulse.

Silence. It was better than mockery, you supposed. Then again, it didn’t feel quite right that you’d just confessed such a thing to them, of all people, and not been bombarded with a series of curious, insensitive remarks. You finally dared to look up at them and were alarmed to realise they were all staring at you with wide eyes. It appeared as though at least Black Pete and Wee John were about to explode (presumably due to the myriad of the aforementioned curious, insensitive remarks they were trying their best not to let slip off their tongues).

“I know.” you sighed pitifully.

Your eyes darted downwards as you gloomily swiped at the tears spilling from your eyes. The silence persisted. You glanced up at Pete and groaned.

“Go on. Say what you have to say.”

“I… Um… What the hell?”

“Fair enough.”

You glanced around.

“What about you, Olu?”

He watched you anxiously, as though you had just threatened him.

“Uh…” he hesitated. “No disrespect or anything but, like… why?”

You decided that focusing on the sky was better than making eye contact with the group of horrified and/or baffled men. After all, it was easier to think of what to say when you cast aside their intense stares.

“I know he’s a total prick. But, I guess, when I used to work on Blackbeard’s ship, something… developed.” you replied. “The feelings are just there and I don’t exactly know why, to be honest.”

“So, these feelings are still there,” Olu wondered. “Even after everything he’s put us all through?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t completely fucking despise the bastard.”

Oluwande was unsettled by your sinister, pained glare, which you directed at your lap.

“God, I’m an idiot.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Of course I am, Olu.” you sighed. “You’d have to be an idiot to fall in love with a prick who doesn’t give a shit about you.”

A different kind of silence fell over you, but you didn’t bother to question it until-

“Do they not know?” Black Pete whispered.

“Know what?”

“I don’t think they know.” Roach responded.

“Know what?”

Black Pete exchanged a glance with Roach, but you noticed that everyone looked a tad uncomfortable, if not bewildered.

“Izzy totally had something for you.” Black Pete stated.

You let out a humourless laugh and shook your head.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure he did.” He paused before continuing, “Lucius thought so. Said Izzy had a soft spot for you.”

You froze and swallowed your saliva.

“I know he preferred me over you guys, but if this thing was mutual,” you argued. “He wouldn’t have done this to me.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose. Once again, tears built up in your eyes. You let them spill. At least they weren’t accompanied by sobs, you thought.

“I don’t care that he doesn’t… like me back,” you stated weakly. “It just really fucking stings, y’know? After everything I let myself feel about him, it turns out I mean so little to him that he could just leave me in the middle of nowhere to die.”

Oluwande patted you on the shoulder again. You were taken by surprise when Buttons clapped a hand on your shoulder, too.

“Love is a cruel mistress.” Buttons proclaimed with a heavy sigh. “Perhaps a crueller mistress than the sea, and definitely a crueller mistress than that wee angry fella. Mustn’t let it get you down, though, especially since you’re probably counting down the days ‘til you kick the bucket, so to speak.”

You looked at him out of the corner of your eye.

“Besides,” Black Pete added. “You could do a lot better than Izzy.”

“Yeah, way better, mate.” Olu agreed.

A small smile tugged at your lips.

“You know, if we were to ever get off this island,” Roach said with a smirk. “I wouldn’t mind tracking Izzy down, maybe hack off another one, or eight, of his toes”

The Swede, Buttons and Wee John sent him a puzzled look

“One for each of us,” he clarified. “and an extra one for you, Y/N.”

They nodded in understanding and agreement. You chuckled.

“Count me in.” Black Pete shrugged.

“What is it with pirates and revenge?” Olu questioned with narrowed eyes.

“Are you saying you don’t wanna hurt Izzy?” Wee John said incredulously.

“Of course I wanna hurt him, after everything he’s done. If it weren’t for him, everything would still be alright. Even Ed’d probably be fine, too.”

“So, we’re agreed?” Roach looked around at all of you. “If any of us gets out of this, Izzy’s totally fucked?”

A smile tugged at the corners of your lips. It ached, but it was genuine.

“I like the sound of that.”

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adickaboutspoons · 3 months

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List five of your least-popular fics, as well as when/why you wrote them. Tag five people to play. Shamelessly stolen from someone foolish enough to say they were tagging "anyone who wants to play." I'm going to go ahead and interpret "least-popular" as "has received fewest hits"? I mean, I have a (prolly unhealthy) spreadsheet with data like the ratio of kudos:hits, which is PROLLY the most accurate way of determining what was well-liked by the people who read it, but that's also possibly just speculation (except Like I Want to be Awake, my beloved. It's got the lowest ratio of them all, and even the people who were nice enough to comment have mentioned that the ending is a bit of a downer because it's canon-compliant. So I can easily imagine that readers getting to the end of 16K and being mad about the "downer ending" that I didn't warn for). Anyway. Unbelievable: written in August 2023 in response to @ofmd-dailyquest prompt: Make Up Unbelievable Stories about The Most Fearsome Pirate. I'm not surprised this one has so few hits. It's T-rated (generously, could easily be G), and Jeffery Fettering is the POV character. Who's that? Exactly (The answer is the guy who approached him in the tavern in Bridgetown). Just because I like to imagine the string of repressed white dudes inspired to piracy that Stede leaves in his wake doesn't mean it's gonna be everyone's cuppa. It's about Jeffery and his tavern buddies making up nasty stories about Blackbeard's exploits to entertain themselves and Jeffery realizing that they're all full of shit and he's bored out of his skull and hitting much closer to the truth than he knows.

Hook Head Man Tale: written in April 2023 in response to another @ofmd-dailyquests prompt: Learn the Hook Head Man Tale (Bonus: Discover how he Eats and how he Kisses). Another one I'm not surprised about. It's G-rated, and it's kind of bad on purpose (from a technical writing stand-point; it's written in the style of Young Stede's first self-insert fan fiction, so it's pretty self-indulgent and overwrought). It's the story of Young Stede meeting a creature with a hook for a head because he's under a curse. And breaking that curse to reveal it was really a fairy with long black hair and big brown eyes all along... When a Good Plan Comes Together: written in September 2023. Ed and Stede plan a fuckery together for the first time after the reunion, and get caught up in the giddy euphoria of it and wind up making love on the paper-covered table. I've talked smack about it before. It's fine, and there's actually some pretty excellent metaphors and lovely turns of phrase in there, but mostly I'm cross with myself for lazily glossing over both the actual plan of the fuckery and the actual sex. Stede Sonnets: started in December 2023, but I add new ones every now and again when the fancy takes me. Exactly what it says on the tin - sonnets either about or from the perspective of Stede. Poetry isn't everyone's jam, so yeah - another one that I'm not particularly surprised it's not popular. Under Par: written in June 2023. Stede is golfing with the Badmintons and hating life. Ed is a flirty cart-girl (delivering beverages and snacks to golfers on the links) to the rescue! Remember when there was that 2-second clip of Taika in his Blackbeard get-up riding around in a golf cart in the bts footage from a Rita Ora music video? And we were so desperately starved for any news at all about the second season that we all lost our minds? So this is a little modern AU based on that clip and comments it inspired. It was v. much an "of the moment" fic, and now that we've all moved on from the moment, I'm not surprised there's not any interest in reading this one anymore. Ironically, this has the highest kudos:hits ratio of all my fics, so even though it's not been read by many, I guess those who did read it generally liked it? Tagging @bizarrelittlemew, @chocolatepot, @emi--rose, @epersonae, & @forpiratereasons

And, of course, anyone who wants to play 😉

#ofmd fic #ofmd #our flag means death #tag game

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